Ryan Gosling Reportedly Wants to Play Willy Wonka

Ryan Gosling is about to play himself. (In the DJ Khaled sense, not the Being John Malkovich sense.) The actor’s been on something of a roll recently, scoring critical plaudits for The Nice Guysand La La Landlast year — the latter of which ended up a surprise blockbuster and less-surprise Oscar hoarder — and continuing on into 2017 with this past spring’s Song to Song. He’s got Blade Runner 2049on the docket for this fall, a likely smash that may earn him admiration among nerd circles, the last niche demographic he has not yet charmed. But with the world at his feet, Gosling’s now making moves to dash all the goodwill he’s recently built up.

And it all comes down to two words: Willy Wonka. Warner Bros. has been hot for a reboot of Roald Dahl’s candy-colored children’s classic for a few years now, memories of Tim Burton’s $475 million box-office receipts dancing in executive heads. But they‘ve yet to find someone to fill the role formerly occupied by Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp. Digital Spycites a rumor from That Hashtag Show that Gosling has thrown his purple top hat into the ring, despite the fact that the 36-year-old is slightly beyond Warner Bros.’ designated range of 29-35.

To put it bluntly, this would be a bad idea. (Though as showbiz murmurings go, this one’s particularly sketchy.) Gosling’s a widely liked performer with a lot of range, and he wants to use that public cachet and skill on a role that will get him compared to a recently deceased, universally beloved actor, and also slow-moving molasses flood Johnny Depp. Neither angle is particularly flattering — barring some manner of chocolatey miracle, there’s no way Gosling would come out of this one looking good.